The Washington Post, Montgomery Extra
October 2007
Nancy Lewis

Its easy to miss Doughboys Cafe, but don't

Doughboys Cafe is easy to overlook. It's just a simple space off Kentlands Boulevard , surrounded by shops. There's a small sandwich board out front listing the day's specials, and, amid a jumble of other signs, a plain sign advertising cakes and cooking classes. Looks are deceiving.

Inside, in the back corner, there is always a roaring fire in the wood-burning oven that cooks not only Doughboys' signature flatbread pizzas, but everything else on the menu. The 30 or so seats are often packed with a microcosm of Kentlands residents -- young couples, families with children, older couples and multigenerational groups.

Amid the rather cookie-cutter atmosphere of Kentlands' houses and shops, Doughboys has a homey, neighborhood feeling.

The real doughboys -- David Kianni and Ali Bagheri -- are locals, childhood friends who wanted to run the kind of cafe they came to love in Italy when each lived several years in Europe . Both had worked in restaurants growing up and both left jobs in the information technology world to follow their dream, opening Doughboys in February 2004.

Then a fire, caused by improperly installed ductwork, shut down Doughboys in January and gave Kianni and Bagheri several months to make some changes, both to the interior and the menu.

Doughboys Cafe seems impossibly small to produce all its food on site. Although the big oven dominates the space, there is just a small adjacent kitchen area. Most of the preparatory work is done in Doughboys' downstairs kitchen, where everything is made from scratch, including all of the dough for the sandwiches, pizzas and pasta, and readied for cooking in the oven.

Chicken, used for salads and as the filling for ravioli and empanadas, is roasted in the oven, as is the veal for ravioli, the roast beef for sandwiches, the crab cakes and even the mozzarella sticks. Doughboys also makes its own butter, about six pounds a week, which is then flavored with different jams or preserves.

The decor is spare and spotlessly clean, with a large stack of flatbread on a counter the main decoration. Wooden booths line one wall, and tables fill the remainder of the space.

Doughboys' signature flatbread is the base for the pizzas and the sandwiches, and strips of the bread accompany every salad and main course. The bread is not as thick as focaccia, but it is soft and flavorful like focaccia.

Soups change daily; clam chowder one day, tortilla or navy bean another. The clam chowder is thick with bits of clam and potato, but it's also creamy smooth. The navy bean has the flavor of a traditional recipe, but it, too, is creamy. Salads are crisp and gently dressed, not swimming in sauce. A small salad accompanies every entree.

Although the original menu was mostly Italian, Doughboys has recently added more international touches. One is empanadas, a street food found throughout Central and South America . Kianni said the restaurant has produced 24 different kinds of empanadas. The version currently on the menu combines minced roast chicken with roasted corn in a golden crust, served with sour cream. There are two empanadas to an order, and they alone are sufficient for lunch.

Other appetizers include crab cakes, crab dip, spinach and artichoke dip and hummus, all served with strips of the yummy flatbread.

Pizzas are the star of the menu. Again, the small flatbread dough is used, which means these pizzas don't have the yeasty, bubbly dough found elsewhere. It's thin, but not cracker-like, and substantial enough to stand up to heavier toppings such as meatballs and sausage. Each is baked to order in the wood-fired oven, which gives the pizzas a pleasant smoky flavor and a nice crisp bottom that is never soggy.

Pizzas may be ordered with or without tomato sauce (also homemade), and my favorite is the quattro formaggi (four cheese) without marinara sauce and with extra garlic. The pizzas are available as either a five-inch mini, which is great for an appetizer or smaller appetites, and the standard 10-inch individual size.

Except for crab cakes and salmon, entrees are pasta dishes, including several types of ravioli, a salmon calzone, gnocchi and a penne dish with chunks of roasted chicken and pesto sauce, which was the best of several I tasted.

Desserts aren't made at Doughboys, but they are homemade, by a private baker who supplies several restaurants. The chocolate layer cake is dense and intensely chocolate, the carrot cake is moist and flavorful and the chocolate mousse pie is decadent with a dense chocolate brownie-like layer, topped with chocolate mousse and then whipped cream. Leave room for a piece.